Archive for the ‘Features’ Category

@ZackTeibloom It’s New Years Eve and we’re actually going to finish the contest on time for once. It’s a battle of the Brits, as Arctic Monkeys and Macca are our finalists. As for the contest, since Sami picked AM to win it all, she can make up Eric’s massive lead and send us to a tie. Andy and I debated having a tie breaker in case that happens, but we’re big Eric and Sami fans and will happily give them both a prize if it comes to that. This wasn’t the bracket I expected, but I do love both these songs and can’t wait to see who we crown the favorite of 2013. We’ll close it up around noon on New Years Day or whenever we’re awake enough to stumble to a laptop. Happy New Year. Stay Safe. Don’t forget to vote. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom It’s New Years Eve Eve and we’re still in the final four, so let’s throw down in a big catch-all post and crown a winner by New Years Day for once. We have no#1 seeds in the final four. It appears our readers prefer Macca, JT, Eminem and Arctic Monkeys to Daft Punk, Robin Thicke, Lorde and Arcade Fire. As for your brackets, Andy’s lifelong friend Eric seemed especially cocky as he turned his in this year, noting “P.S. – I would like to add that I will win this year because I am a super sleuth. I consider myself a modern day Nancy Drew. That is all…” Well, he was right. He’s up by 8 points with two round to go. Let’s get into the match-ups and see the only person who can beat him in the finals. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom We end round one with a battle between the greatest living songwriter and a band that relies on a chorus of “It’s good shit.” You’d think this would be a slam dunk for Macca, but this has been the most unpredictable year we’ve ever had. I’ll admit, I’ve really come around on “Farah Fawcett Hair.” I found it obnoxious at first, but it grows on you. I mean, who doesn’t like Michael Jackson “Thriller” or Back to the Future 2 or all that other “good shit” they list. And of course Andre 3000 makes the song. Still, 100 times out of 100 I’m going to prefer a fresh NEW and great Paul McCartney song that stands up with his other stuff. I’d think this would be an easy choice, but you Capital Cities fans are apesky bunch.

@AndyShore Justin Timberlake wins at life, in general, but he may not win our Best Song of the Year contest if the Cinderalla story continues for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Can the triple threat actor, musician and SNL pro beat the triple named band? We shall see. If the recent streak of top seeds being beaten beaten remains a trend, we may see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs continue on in this competition. It’s your turn to reflect. Will you vote for “Mirrors” or do you say yes, yes, yes to more Yeah Yeah Yeahs (sorry to recycle a joke … I’ve been drinking for two days straight). Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore The only thing these two artists have in common is that album after album, they continue to impress us. Arcade Fire put out one of the best songs of the year. Eminem showed why he’s still a top 3 rapper out there. Both these albums were touched by two of the best producers out there. An all time great in Rick Rubin worked his magic on The Marshall Mathers LP 2. James Murphy left Arcade Fire with their most dance-y album to date. I won’t get mad at either winning. Will Arcade Fire be seeing the “Afterlife” sooner than expected? Or will they be left with the bad taste of Eminem’s mom’s spaghetti in their mouths? Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom With “Blurred Lines” and “Royals” going down, Daft Punk has as clear a path to the finals as any, but Arctic Monkeys might have something to say about that. By slowing down, Arctic Monkeys proved there’s more power in control and they’re as in control as ever in their anthemic track. I have to think part of the reason we haven’t gotten as sick of Daft Punk yet is that they haven’t played a single live show. They’re now slated to play The Grammy’s, but we’ll crown a winner a month before then. Let’s see if AM can “Get Lucky.” Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Round 1 was full of surprises. We saw two #1 seeds go down, as you guys agreed with Rob Sheffield that “Blurred Lines” may be the worst song ever and acknowledged that Lorde isn’t ready to be Queen of our contest just yet. Andy and I had “Blurred Lines” and “Royals” winning it all, so clearly we aren’t the best predictors, and I don’t think we’re any closer to knowing who will win.

Somehow Eminem got more votes than any other winning song combined. Macca had a gigantic win percentage as well. Does that mean those are the two favorites or that someone happened to stumble across those posts? We’ll see soon enough. Here’s the winners, round two match-ups and a look at our bracket results through round one. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore There are a couple of songs in the bracket this year that have been played to death. “Royals” is just the most recent one. That may explain why I had “Blurred Lines” winning it all. I forgot how sick of it everyone was. There was a point this year that I could listen to “Royals” on repeat and never get sick of it. It’s haunting and captivating and incredible that it comes from a 16-year-old. However, there’s been so many viral covers … I can’t take it anymore.

By the time it got to the Chanukah spoof, I just couldn’t. Capital Cities still isn’t old to me. They put forth so many layers of pure pop production and energy. As you’ll hear when you listen to “Farrah Fawcett Hair” .. it’s good shit. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Now here’s two songs I can get behind. I’m ecstatic that Paul put out his best song in 25 years and can’t wait for him to tour on it again. Kanye put out something radically different that might not be catchy or easily lovable, but is as daring as any release this year. So who do you reward? The best living songwriter doing his best work in a quarter century or the self appointed best rapper alive doing stripped down, raw, honest work. Not an easy choice. I’ll be defending Kanye’s abrasive track while Andy will argue that not even ‘Ye can beat Macca at his best. And he knows as well as anyone, having seen Sir Paul play the “New” track on Kimmel live. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore I have been tasked with introducing this matchup, as both of these are tracks I brought on Zack. “Blurred Lines” was the song of the summer and beyond. It’s been played and covered to death (including this one time by Queens of the Stone Age). “Sacrilege” was the first single off the Yeah Yeah Yeahs most recent offering. It wasn’t the song of anything, but it still found itself on this list at the end of the year. We all love some Karen O, but I don’t know if anyone is gonna call it sacrilege if you vote for the alternative. Read the rest of this entry »